Science-in-Theater: Sleeping Beauty or...?

Science is inherently dramatic—at least in the opinion of scientists—because it deals with the new and unexpected.  But does it follow that scientists are dramatic personae other than the occasional Frankenstein, Strangelove or idiot savant?  Or that science can become the stuff of drama?  Until now, “science-in-theater” has proved to be a rare genre, even though playwrights of the caliber of Brecht, Dürrenmatt, Frayn, Stoppard, and Whitemore have on occasion chosen scientists or scientific themes as components for the plots of major plays. What all of these playwrights have in common is that none has any scientific background, but that they have illustrated successfully what science can do for the theatre.

As a scientist for five decades, who then turned to playwriting—mostly in the genre of “science-in-theatre”—I shall examine, partly through some video illustrations from different productions, the reverse question: “What can the theatre do for science?”